U.S. patent number 5,307,828 [Application Number 08/072,163] was granted by the patent office on 1994-05-03 for support foot assembly.
Invention is credited to Donald J. Gardner, Sue A. Gardner.
United States Patent |
5,307,828 |
Gardner , et al. |
May 3, 1994 |
Support foot assembly
Abstract
A support foot assembly (10) for use with a elongated load
bearing device such as a cane (16) or crutch. The support foot
assembly includes a mounting structure (12) having a generally
planar bottom surface (12.1) and an upper surface (12.2) which, in
the preferred form of the invention shown in the accompanying
drawings, is provided with a large, deep generally cylindrical
cavity (12.3). Securing means (14) are provided to secure the
elongated load bearing device to the mounting structure, and to
this end a rubber-like crutch or cane tip (18) is mounted within
the cavity (12.3), the tip (18) being retained within the cavity by
a rubber-like cord (22) which passes through a small aperture
(12.5) below the cavity (12.3), the cord having an enlarged portion
(22.1) which engages the bottom surface (12.1) of the mounting
structure. Engaging means (26) project downwardly from the bottom
surface of the mounting structure, the engaging means including a
plurality of spaced apart bristle tufts (28), and a plurality or
rubber fingers (32) interspersed among the bristle tufts. In the
preferred form illustrated the rubber fingers are formed by coating
alternating bristle tufts with neoprene.
Inventors: |
Gardner; Donald J. (Tonawanda,
NY), Gardner; Sue A. (Tonawanda, NY) |
Family
ID: |
22105984 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/072,163 |
Filed: |
June 4, 1993 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/82; 135/77;
135/78; 135/84; 135/86 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45B
9/04 (20130101); A61H 3/0288 (20130101); A61H
2003/0272 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A45B
9/04 (20060101); A45B 9/00 (20060101); A61H
3/02 (20060101); A61H 3/00 (20060101); A45B
009/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;135/86,84,82DR,87,78,77 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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|
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2668690 |
|
May 1992 |
|
FR |
|
0591827 |
|
Sep 1977 |
|
CH |
|
Other References
Futuro Item No. 292600 "Super Grip" Crutch Tips..
|
Primary Examiner: Friedman; Carl D.
Assistant Examiner: Wood; Wynn E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Thompson; John C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A support foot assembly which may be used with an elongated load
bearing device such as a cane or crutch, which support foot
assembly is capable of adhering to substantially all support
surfaces without slipping, including ice, snow, wet floors, wood,
and carpet; the support foot assembly comprising:
a mounting structure having a generally planar bottom surface and
an upper surface;
securing means for securing an elongated load bearing device to the
mounting structure; and
engaging means to engage a support surface, said engaging means
including
a plurality of bristle tufts carried by the mounting structure and
extending downwardly from the bottom surface, each tuft being
formed of a plurality of relatively stiff bristles, and
a plurality of rubber-like fingers carried by the mounting
structure and extending downwardly from the bottom surface, the
rubber-like fingers being interspersed among the bristle tufts.
2. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the
securing means includes
a rubber-like cane or crutch tip provided with a cylindrical recess
which may receive one end of an elongated load bearing device;
and
retaining means to retain the rubber-like cane or crutch tip upon a
portion of the mounting structure with the cylindrical recess being
normal to the bottom surface of the mounting structure.
3. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the
rubber-like fingers are tufts of bristles covered with neoprene or
the like.
4. A support foot assembly for use with an elongated load bearing
device such as a cane or crutch, which support foot assembly is
capable of adhering to substantially all support surfaces without
slipping, including ice, snow, wet floors, wood, and carpet, and
which support foot assembly, when used with a cane, gives the user
of a cane security when the cane is extended far in front of the
user, and which will also permit the cane to stand by itself; the
support foot assembly comprising:
a mounting structure having a generally planar bottom surface and
an upper surface;
a rubber-like cane or crutch tip provided with a cylindrical recess
which may receive one end of an elongated load bearing device;
retaining means to retain the rubber-like cane or crutch tip upon a
portion of the mounting structure with the cylindrical recess being
normal to the bottom surface of the mounting structure; and
a plurality of bristle tufts carried by the mounting structure and
extending downwardly from the bottom side, each tuft being formed
of a plurality of relatively stiff bristles, selected tufts of
bristles being covered with neoprene or the like, whereby the
uncovered bristles and the neoprene covered bristles, acting
together, give good adhesion to all support surfaces, the tufts
covering an area of the bottom surface large enough to permit a
cane, when received within the rubber-like cane or crutch tip, to
stand by itself when the tufts are in engagement with a relatively
horizontal support surface.
5. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein each
tuft extends below the bottom surface of the mounting structure
approximately 0.5 inches.
6. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein the
mounting structure is provided with a large generally cylindrical
cavity in the upper surface, the rubber-like cane or crutch tip
being received within the cylindrical cavity.
7. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein the
mounting structure is provided with a relatively small aperture
which extends from the bottom of the cylindrical cavity to the
bottom surface, and wherein the retaining means is a rubber-like
cord which passes through the relatively small aperture, the
rubber-like cord having an enlarged portion which engages the
bottom surface of the mounting structure in order to retain the
cane or crutch tip within the cylindrical cavity.
8. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein each
bristle in each tuft is formed of a plastic having a thickness in
the range of 0.080 to 3/64 inches.
9. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein the
plastic is nylon, and the bristles have a thickness in the range of
0.008 to 0.012 inches.
10. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein the
plastic is polypropylene, and the bristles have a thickness of
about 3/64 inches.
11. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein the
tufts of bristles are in a rectangular grid, one side of the grid
being longer than the other.
12. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein the
selected tufts covered with neoprene form a diamond-like
pattern.
13. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 12 wherein all
the tufts on each short side is coated with neoprene.
14. A support foot assembly for use with an elongated load bearing
device such as a cane or crutch, which support foot assembly is
capable of adhering to substantially all support surfaces without
slipping, including ice, snow, wet floors, wood, and carpet, which
gives the user of a cane security when the cane is extended far in
front of the user, and which will also permit a cane to stand by
itself; the support foot assembly comprising:
a rectangular parallelepiped mounting structure approximately 4.5
to 5.0 inches long by approximately 2.5 to 3.0 inches wide, the
mounting structure having an upper surface and a generally planar
bottom surface, there being a deep cylindrical cavity centrally
located on the top surface of the mounting structure, the bottom of
the cavity being generally parallel to the bottom surface of the
mounting structure;
a rubber-like cane or crutch tip disposed within the cavity, the
cane or crutch tip being circular in cross section and having a
cylindrical recess which may receive one end of a cane or crutch,
the rubber-like cane or crutch tip having a bottom surface normal
to the cylindrical recess;
retaining means to retain the rubber-like cane or crutch tip within
the deep cavity with the bottom surface of the rubber-like cane or
crutch tip in contact with the bottom surface of the cylindrical
cavity; and
a plurality of bristle tufts carried by the mounting structure and
extending downwardly from the bottom side, each tuft extending
below the bottom surface of the mounting structure approximately
0.5 inches, and each tuft being formed of a plurality of relatively
stiff bristles, selected tufts of bristles being covered with
neoprene or the like, whereby the uncovered bristles and the
neoprene covered bristles, acting together, give good adhesion to
all support surfaces.
15. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 14 wherein the
mounting structure is provided with 14 columns and 8 rows of
bristle tufts.
16. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 15 wherein even
tufts in even rows are covered with neoprene, and odd tufts in odd
rows are covered with neoprene to form a diamond-like pattern.
17. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 16 wherein all
the tufts on the end of each row are coated with neoprene.
18. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 14 wherein the
mounting structure is approximately 1 inch thick.
19. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 14 wherein the
mounting structure is provided with a relatively small aperture
which extends from the bottom of the deep cylindrical cavity to the
bottom surface, and wherein the retaining means is a rubber-like
cord which passes through the relatively small aperture, the
rubber-like cord having an enlarged portion which engages the
bottom surface of the mounting structure in order to retain the
cane or crutch tip within the cylindrical cavity.
20. The support foot assembly as set forth in claim 19 wherein the
rubber-like cord is formed integrally with the cane or crutch tip.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to a novel support foot
assembly which is capable of adhering to substantially all support
surfaces without slipping, the surfaces including ice, snow, wet
floors, wood, and carpet. More particularly, the present invention
relates to a support foot assembly which may be used with walking
aids such as canes or crutches, which support foot assembly will
adhere to substantially all surfaces, which will give the user of a
cane security when the cane is extended far in front of the user,
and which will also permit a cane to stand by itself.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Walking aids, such as canes and crutches, are typically provided
with removable rubber-like tips, the purpose of the tip being to
prevent damage to a walking surface from the walking aid, and also,
more importantly, to give good adhesion between the bottom of the
walking aid and the walking surface. The most common cane tip in
use today is circular, when viewed from the bottom, and has
concentric grooves in a slightly concave surface. This form of tip
does not work well on all surfaces, and particularly ice and some
wet floors. It has a further disadvantage in that, as dust packs
within the cane tip, it loses its ability to adhere to wood floors.
An ice pick, which can be swung over a rubber tip, is commonly used
by people with canes, and a pick will give them some feeling of
security on icy surfaces. However, it is necessary for them to
swing the ice pick out of the way when they enter a building in
order to prevent damage to the floors within the building. Another
disadvantages of the common rubber-like cane tips is that they will
not permit the cane to stand upon the floor in a free standing
mode. Also, because the common tip has only limited flexibility, it
does not give the user of the cane security when the cane is
extended far in front of the user.
Various patents have issued which have attempted to address the
above problems. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,154 to Edwards
discloses a no-slip crutch foot with flexible fingers 56. U.S. Pat.
No. 4,947,882 to Levasseur discloses a walking stick tip or foot
having a large area and has 5 spaced apart cylindrical projections.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,771 to Wilkinson discloses a cane tip of
rectangular design, the tip having a large area with ridges 20 on
the bottom surface thereof. In addition to the above patents, U.S.
Pat. No. 5,167,746 to Sheenan discloses a shoe-like crutch tip,
wherein the shoe shown in FIG. 7 is provided with cleats 22.
Another U.S. Patent which discloses tips for walking aids is
4,098,283. However, none of the foregoing patented designs have
successfully provided a structure which will adhere to virtually
all walking surfaces.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a support foot
assembly which may be used with a elongated load bearing device
such as a cane or crutch, which support foot assembly is capable of
adhering to substantially all support surfaces without slipping,
including ice, snow, wet floors, wood, and carpet, and which, when
used with a cane, gives the user of the cane security when the cane
is extended far in front of the user, and which will also permit
the cane to stand by itself.
The novel support foot assembly of this invention includes a
mounting structure having a generally planar bottom surface and an
upper surface which, in the preferred form of the invention shown
in the accompanying drawings, is provided with a large, deep
generally cylindrical cavity. Securing means are provided to secure
the elongated load bearing device to the mounting structure, and to
this end a rubber-like crutch or cane tip is mounted within the
cavity, the tip being retained within the cavity by a rubber-like
cord which passes through a small aperture below the cavity, the
cord having an enlarged portion which engages the bottom surface of
the mounting structure. Engaging means project downwardly from the
bottom surface of the mounting structure, the engaging means
including a plurality of spaced apart bristle tufts, and a
plurality of rubber fingers interspersed among the bristle tufts.
In the preferred form illustrated the rubber fingers are formed by
coating alternating bristle tufts with neoprene.
The above object and other objects and advantages of this invention
will become more apparent from a consideration of the following
detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings in which one preferred form of this invention is
illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the support foot assembly of
this invention shown associated with a walking cane, the walking
cane being shown in full lines in its normal upright position,
where it may be supported by the support foot assembly of this
invention, and being shown in various positions of extension in
broken lines.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the support foot assembly of this
invention, this view being taken generally along the line 2--2 in
FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 3--3 in
FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is another sectional view taken through one of the dotted
line positions shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 5--5 in
FIG. 2 showing a bristle tuft and a rubber finger in accordance
with the principles of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference now to the various figures, the support foot
assembly of this invention is illustrated generally at 10. The
support foot assembly is designed for use with elongated load
bearing devices such as a cane or crutch, and is illustrated in the
drawing in use with a cane 16. It may also be used with stilts, or
as feet for ladders. The support foot assembly includes a mounting
structure 12 having a generally planar bottom surface 12.1 and an
upper surface 12.2. A large, deep, generally cylindrical cavity
12.3 is located on the top surface, the bottom 12.4 of the cavity
12.3 being generally parallel to the bottom surface 12.1 of the
mounting structure 12. A relatively small aperture 12.5 extends
from the center of the bottom 12.4 of the cylindrical cavity for
reasons which will be explained later.
Securing means, indicated generally at 14, are provided for
securing an elongated load bearing device, such as the cane 16, to
the mounting structure 12. The securing means includes a
rubber-like cane or crutch tip 18, or its equivalent, which tip is
disposed within the cavity 12.3 with its bottom resting upon the
bottom surface 12.4 of the cavity. The tip 18 as illustrated is
similar to conventional prior art cane tips and is generally
circular in cross section and has a cylindrical recess 18.1 which
may receive the end 16.1 of the cane 16. As is conventional, a
metal washer 20 is retained at the bottom of the cylindrical recess
18.1 to prevent undue wear between the end 16.1 of the cane and the
bottom of the recess 18.1. The bottom 18.2 of the cane or crutch
tip is slightly domed shaped as can best be seen in FIG. 3.
However, its peripheral edge lies in a plane normal to the axis
18.3 of the cylindrical recess.
Retaining means in the form of a rubber-like cord is provided to
retain the rubber-like cane or crutch tip 18 on the support surface
12.4 of the mounting structure 12. In the embodiment illustrated,
the rubber-like cord is formed integrally with the tip 18. However,
it should be obvious that the cord could be formed separately with
its upper end portion passing through a suitable aperture in the
tip 18, there being a head on the cord which could bear against the
washer 20. In any event, the rubber-like cord has an enlarged
portion 22.1 of a generally conical shape, there being an annular
surface 22.2 normal to the cord which can bear against the bottom
surface 12.1 of the mounting structure. The rubber-like cord is
initially longer than that illustrated in the drawings, and during
assembly, its tail 22.3 is pulled through the aperture 12.5, the
conical portion 12.1 also being pulled through the aperture, so
that the annular surface 22.2 can bear against the bottom surface
12.1. After this assembly has been completed a portion of the tail
22.3 which extends too far below the mounting structure will be cut
off in any conventional manner.
Engaging means are provided to engage the support surface 24, the
engaging means being indicated generally at 26. The engaging means
includes a plurality of bristle tufts 28 which are carried by the
mounting structure and extend downwardly from the bottom surface
12.1. Each tuft is formed from a plurality of relatively stiff
bristles which are selected to bear the load. Tests have indicated
that satisfactory results may be achieved with tufts formed from
nylon bristles having a diameter of 0.008 to 0.010 inches, there
being approximately 120 bristles per tuft. The thickness of the
bristle may be increased if heavy loads are anticipated. Thus,
tests have indicated that satisfactory results may be achieved with
tufts formed from polypropylene bristles having a diameter of about
3/64 of an inch, there being only eight bristles per tuft. The
plurality of individual bristles, which form each tuft, are stapled
into place by means of a staple 30. To this end, the bristles which
form each tuft are initially formed into a U-shape. The U-shaped
bristles are then placed within an associated aperture 12.6 of the
mounting structure for stapling. This is best illustrated in FIG.
5.
In addition to the bristle tufts, the engaging means also includes
a plurality of rubber fingers 32. In the illustrated embodiment the
rubber fingers 32 are formed by coating interspersed bristle tufts
with neoprene. Tests have indicated that rubber fingers by
themselves do not have the desired load carrying capacity, but that
by coating bristles with neoprene the desired load carrying
capacity can be achieved. In addition, it has been found that the
mixture of bristles and rubber-like fingers give better results on
substantially all surfaces than either just bristles tufts or
rubber fingers.
In the preferred embodiment the mounting structure is a rectangular
parallelepiped have a length L of approximately 4.5 to 5.0 inches,
and a width W of approximately 2.5 to 3.0 inches. The mounting
structure also has a thickness T of approximately 1.0 inches. Each
tuft extends below the bottom surface of the mounting structure
approximately 0.5 inches. As can be seen the mounting structure is
provided with 14 columns and 8 rows of bristle tufts and rubber
fingers. In the manufacture of the support foot assembly of this
invention, even tufts in even rows are coated with neoprene, and
odd tufts in odd rows are coated with neoprene to form a
diamond-like pattern of rubber fingers. While not illustrated, all
of the tufts on each short side, that is to say the tufts at the
end of each row, may be coated with neoprene to provide for better
wear for the ends of the support foot assembly.
In use with a cane, it is envisioned that the length of the support
foot assembly will parallel the direction of movement of the user
of the cane. By having engaging means which occupy a relatively
large surface area it is possible for the cane to be supported in
an upright position by the support foot assembly of this invention
when the bristle tufts and rubber fingers are resting upon a
relatively horizontal walking surface 24. This feature is
illustrated in FIG. 1. In addition, when in use, the large area of
the support foot assembly will give better visibility to the user
when placing the cane. Additionally, the bristles will take on the
contour of any surface, indoors and out, and in all seasons, and on
most all surfaces. This device has been found to be self cleaning
and dust accumulation does not occur, therefore giving good
adherence on wood surfaces as well as wet floors. Finally, due to
the flexible mount between the cane end 16.1 and the mounting
structure 12, the engaging means will be in contact with the
support surface, even when extended, as shown by the dotted line
positions in FIG. 1, therefore giving the user of a cane a sense of
security not possible with conventional cane and crutch tips. There
will be corresponding advantages when the support foot assembly of
this invention is used with other elongated load bearing devices,
such as crutches, stilts, and ladders, with the possible exception
that the area of the bristles may not be large enough to insure
that the crutch or other device may stand by itself.
While a preferred form of this invention has been described above
and shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood
that the applicant does not intend to be limited to the particular
details described above and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, but intends to be limited only to the scope of the
invention as defined by the following claims.
* * * * *